REVIEW: ‘The Hawk’ Bogeys Early, But Finds The Fairway In The End

The Hawk, a new Netflix comedy, follows Lonnie “The Hawk” Hawkins  (Will Ferrell, Despicable Me 4) as he struggles to make one last run at pro golf greatness. But along the way, he’ll need to reconcile with his son, Lance (Jimmy Tatro, Scream 7), mend things with his estranged wife, Stacy (Molly Shannon, Only Murders in the Building), and learn a little bit about who he wants to be. And cause a ruckus along the way. 

As a series primarily driven by its comedy, this show struggles from its first swing. Lonnie’s introduction presents the character as so crass and rude that he rarely elicits laughter, instead conjuring snickers and eye rolls. His disregard for others and self-obsession introduce him early on as a terrible father and human being. This situation persists for the first couple of episodes. 

If you can weather the initial cringe performance that Ferrell gives, The Hawk does come around to an extent. This is largely thanks to the realization that most of the other personalities in the show are just as bad as Lonnie. While his early treatment of his family feels terrible, and thus, hard to laugh at, as you learn about those closest to him, the jokes start to land a bit better. 

The Hawk struggles with its comedy, particularly in the beginning, with Will Ferrell’s Lonnie.

The show also becomes more palatable as it moves on, thanks to a tempering of Lonnie’s personality. While he remains a jerk right up until the final credits roll, there is a character arc here that manages to find a balance between impactful and believable. If Lonnie were an authentically “good” person by the end, it would be ridiculous. However, he is better, and by the end of the ten-episode run, that feels like a triumph in and of itself. 

Standing shoulder to shoulder with Lonnie is his son, Lance. When we first meet him, he is a PGA Tour star and seems to have all the discipline and focus his father lacks. The descent into the character’s true personality is a wild ride. One that Tatro fully embraces as he delivers the character’s bizarre nature and bad habits with aplomb. Though this gusto does backfire at times, making the character slightly too much in certain moments. 

In the final episodes of The Hawk, Lance, Lonnie, and long-time golf rival Golden Fisk (Luke Wilson, No Good Deed), find themselves squaring off on the fairway. Where the tournament takes the father and son is hard to believe, as it manages to craft one of the best endings I think I’ve ever seen.

The Hawk ends surprisingly well, with arguably the best ending we’ve seen in ages.

What makes The Hawk‘s ending so incredible is how pitch-perfect it is for the story and characters. If you had described this series to me and asked me how it would end, I’d never have guessed the way it does. Much like Lonnie’s character arc, the ending finds a perfect spot between impactful and believable. It hits with exceptional energy and understanding of what these characters are. As the final episode ran, I thought for sure I knew exactly what would happen. Rarely have I been more pleasantly surprised. 

The story manages to pull itself together fairly decently as the series plays out, but the comedy doesn’t manage as much success. There are a few laugh-out-loud moments, but there are more bogeys than birdies with the humor here. 

Is The Hawk amazing? No. But it does a couple of things well. The way it balances building its characters into three-dimensional personalities while leaning into the obscurity is shockingly impressive. And the perfectly crafted surprise ending may be worth the journey the series offers, even if it gets lost in the rough sometimes. 

The Hawk is streaming now, exclusively on Netflix.